Isolation and optimization of a novel thraustochytrid strain for DHA rich and astaxanthin comprising biomass as aquafeed supplement.

A marine organism, belonging to the Thraustochytrids family was isolated from mangroves of Mumbai, India. The isolated strain was identified as Aurantiochytrium limacinum by internal transcribed spacer sequence analysis. Optimization of process parameters yielded 14.47 g/L dry cell weight containing 55-58% oil in 3.5 days' cultivation on glucose, yeast extract, and peptone in the bioreactor. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was found to be the dominant long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid, accounting for 32-35% of total fatty acid content. The process parameter was tweaked to simultaneously synthesize astaxanthin along with DHA. The concurrent synthesis of DHA and astaxanthin-containing biomass establishes the isolated strain as a perfect choice for aquafeed. Accession number: NCBI accession number MN046792.